Thanksgiving in Paris

I'm way overdue for writing here and I apologize for the long absence but life jumped up and grabbed me into doing other things. So, with that said, I will jump back in here and hopefully be better about posting. Thanks to those who keep hanging in there with me.

Thanksgiving just passed and in France, as elsewhere around the world outside the US, it's just another normal Thursday. Several years ago we decided to start our own tradition here in Paris so I could get the feeling of family and well being that I always associated with the holiday. Now I prepare the Thanksgiving meal for friends on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day to accommodate all those who work the regular weekdays, I hear lots of Americans do that as well. This year we prepared herb dressing, mash potatoes, mushroom gravy, green beans, candied yams, carrots, fruit salad and pumpkin pies. In past years, we had been able to bring things from the States but this year I did everything from scratch, including the pie crust and dressing! My first time ever for that!! We did find canned cranberry sauce, my favorite, at the La Grande Epicerie across the street from, and part of, the world famous le Bon Marché. Here one can find foods from around the world and I scored 2 of the last 4 cans of cranberry sauce for the whopping price of 3,95E per can! At those prices I must pick up some cans next time I'm in the States. The turkey was cooked two floors above us at some neighbors' apartment so I wouldn't have to smell it cooking (I'm a vegetarian in case you don't know). I also gave all the meat leftovers away so I wouldn't have to put them in the refrigerator. That night we had 13 guests (1 Salvadorian, 1 Mexican, 4 French, 2 Canadians, 2 Italians and 3 Americans including myself) who drank almost an equal number of bottles of champagne and wine! and we just finished our leftovers yesterday!

You might like to check out la grande epicerie online: http://www.lagrandeepicerie.fr/#en-GB/home and
from there you can click on Le Bon Marché, enjoy Paris window shopping and bon appétit!